


Come Morning Light (You & I Will Be...)

by FudgingPastry



Category: BNA: Brand New Animal (Anime)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Polyamory, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25637083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FudgingPastry/pseuds/FudgingPastry
Summary: Occurring after the events of Episode 12, Shirou's feelings for Michiru develop into something he can't ignore. Even being over 1k years old, there's still some things he misses. Michiru's feelings for Shirou and Nazuna develop in tandem and she tries reaching out to both of them so they can get past the trauma they've experienced so far.
Relationships: Hiwatashi Nazuna/Kagemori Michiru, Hiwatashi Nazuna/Kagemori Michiru/Ogami Shirou, Kagemori Michiru/Ogami Shirou
Comments: 7
Kudos: 42





	1. Does a Wolf God Sleep?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got no idea how long this fic will be, but I've got an outline set up for the next 3 chapters. There will likely not be regular updates, but I'll update when I can. Hope you enjoy it :)

Shirou picked up his phone, holding it close to his ear with little so much as a ‘hello’ to the person on the other end. The wind gusted past him, ruffling his hair as he gazed down on Anima City below. There was a pause on the other line. Shirou closed his eyes, listening and waiting. There were the sounds of cars around, faint music playing through the speakers of the car, and a soft sigh.

“Ogami,” Flip’s voice filtered through the phone. Shirou straightened, waiting for… something. Whatever Flip wanted from him now. They had partnered up to stop the Church of the Silver Wolf’s founder from causing chaos from her announcement, to stop Alan from implementing the Beast Factor Termination Vaccine, but as far as Shirou was concerned, that was the end of their cooperation.

Guess he had made a mistake about this too.

“There is something I would like to discuss with you, Ogami,” Flip continued. Shirou grunted to show he was listening still. He wondered what exactly Flip had in store for him. He was so pre-occupied with that thought that he nearly missed Flip’s next words.

“My daughter is having a party tomorrow and she,” he sighed, as if the very idea was causing him stress. “Would like Kagemori to come as well.”

Shirou blinked, mouth opening in surprise. “Ah. I will talk to her.” The line went quiet and Shirou shoved the phone into his pocket. A party, huh? One of the Family would send him details, for sure. It likely wouldn’t be at Flip’s residence. That would be too risky. Somewhere rented, somewhere quieted, somewhere guarded. He hoped Michiru would be safe. He headed home to give her the news.

An hour later, Michiru was bouncing up and down, excitement coming off her in waves. Shirou watched her with a faint smile on his face. Nazuna sat on her bed, watching bemused as well. The fox caught his eye and winked at him, a gestured that went entirely over his head.

“You said it was a human party?” Michiru asked, morphing into her human form.

“Yes. Nina loves human culture. Her father said she wanted to recreate the party you two snuck off to, but in reverse. Beastmen playing human.” The concept still sent a shiver down his spine, but he managed to hide it. He was getting better. For Michiru, he hoped he was getting better.

“Oh, I get it,” Nazuna butted in. “Since Michiru used to be human, then she’d be valuable at a human pretend party?” Shirou gave her a nod and she leaned in. “Would this mean I’d get to go too?”

Michiru paused her bouncing and quickly glanced at Shirou. “Could Nazuna come too?”

Shirou opened his mouth to explain that Flip hadn’t said anything about a plus one, but the delight on Michiru’s face at the idea of her friend coming too gave him pause. He closed his mouth and sighed. “I will see what I can do.” He turned away, leaving Michiru to prepare for tomorrow evening. Outside, he listened for anyone following, anyone listening in. Hearing no one, he called Flip. Over the phone, he heard Nina in the background, obviously excited for the party.

“Kagemori wants to know if she could bring someone along.”

“Huh? Ogami, the invite was for just Kagemori. Who in the world would she bring?”

“Nazuna Hiwatashi.”

“Nazuna? Who-“

Suddenly, the phone was ripped away from Flip and Nina’s voice came loudly over the speaker. Shirou had to hold the phone far from his ear to prevent any further damage to them. He may have an immortal body, but he still felt pain.

“Nazuna wants to come to my party?! THE NAZUNA?”

“Yes. That Nazuna.”

“YES! YES! A MILLION TIMES YES!”

“I’ll let her know,” Shirou said with a grin. He went to turn off the phone when Flip’s voice came back.

“Just to be safe, I expect you to stay, Ogami. If anything happens to my Nina, it will be on you.”

The threat came loud and clear and Shirou sighed. “I understand.” He pocketed the phone and headed back inside. He gave Nazuna and Michiru the news, causing more squeals of excitement from the two. The three of them talked for a while, though Shirou spent more time listening than participating in the conversation. Like always, Michiru tried to get Nazuna to spend the night, but she waved her off, saying something about getting her beauty rest and getting ready for the party. Nazuna smiled at Shirou again, confusing him further about why she kept looking at him like that. He couldn’t ask with Michiru around. He was sure Nazuna wouldn’t speak truly when she was near. Not with all the secrets she had kept from her back when she was still the founder of the Church. Michiru was sure that she had changed, that she wasn’t truly the person she acted like as the founder.

Shirou held little trust for humans, even humans turned beastmen. He was trying to get better, but he knew it would take him longer to learn to trust Nazuna. Michiru though… Michiru had proven herself time and time again. There was no one in the city Shirou trusted more than Michiru.

He glanced at her, blinking at the happiness fading from her face. This wasn’t the first time Michiru begged Nazuna to spend the night with her and it wasn’t the first time she had been turned down. Each time it happened, Shirou saw her expression change the same. Happiness fading into longing, only half hidden when others were around. It pained him to see her so sad. He didn’t know how to fix it and that pained him even more.

“Good night, Michiru,” he said, bowing his head, regret gripping his chest. He started for the door when her hand grabbed his jacket. He stopped and turned towards her, surprised again, for who knows how many times that night. She didn’t look at him, her lips pressed together, the same way she always did when she wanted to say something she didn’t know how to say. He wondered briefly how he learned so much about her in such a short amount of time.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize that Michiru’s hand had fallen away from his jacket. She shook her head and smiled up at him. “It’s nothing. Good night, Shirou.”

Shirou waited a moment, watching as she rolled up into her bed and tried to go to sleep. His gaze dropped to the floor and he walked out of her room, shutting off the light as he went. He considered sleeping as well and considered just going out and spending the night walking around. He ended up with his back pressed to the wall to Michiru’s room, indecisive.


	2. The First Half of the Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While most of this fic is told from Shirou's POV, there is some POV switching in this chapter.

Shirou, Michiru, and Nazuna waited just inside the hotel. It was recently built and one of the more expensive places in Anima City; for sure, the Family’s money was involved here. One of the Family found them and led them to a large conference hall decorated to the nines with the human mimicry and dolphins the Family could buy. Nina was centerstage, dancing to some music with about ten other people. Shirou was surprised; he half expected the party to just be Nina, Michiru, and Nazuna. Good, though. They needed to hang out with someone other than a thousand-year-old wolf. His gaze drifted up to a balcony where Flip and his cronies hung out, watching the entirety of the party from above. Flip caught his eye and gestured for Shirou to join them.

“That’s my cue. Call me if you need something.” Shirou bid them goodbye and headed up the stairs.

“Michiru! Nazuna!” Nina called the second she saw them, waving a hand excitedly. They hurried over and Michiru gave Nina the biggest hug she could muster.

“Nina, I’m so glad to see you! I was so worried that you got caught in the, er, you know,” Michiru said, trailing off. Nina’s smile drooped briefly and she nodded.

“I was so scared when everyone around me started to transform. Thankfully Peri was there to get me out!”

“Peri?” Michiru tilted her head, expression screwed up in confusion. Nina pointed up at the balcony and Michiru’s gaze followed it to the pelican beastman who had knocked her out the first time she met Nina. “Ah. Peri.” She noticed Shirou up on the balcony as well, leaning up against one of the pillars and looking down at her. She smiled and turned back to Nina, who was introducing the other party members. Out of the corner of her eye, she swore she saw Shirou smile back.

“… And this is Nazuna and Michiru! They helped calm down the rampaging beastmen and-“

“Oh! You’re on the posters that got sent to the mainland!” One of Nina’s friends said, excitement bubbling out of her. “I’m so glad I got to meet you!”

Nazuna basked in the praise and the two started talking rapidly back and forth. Even Nina seemed entranced by Nazuna, so much so that Michiru felt a little left out of the conversation. That was, until Nina gripped her arm.

“So! I was wondering if you two knew any human party games we could play? I tried asking on Facelook, but I didn’t know what any of the suggestions were,” Nina said, bringing up her phone to show them. Michiru grimaced at some of the suggestions. A lot of them were _definitely_ not the kind of games you would want to play with your dad watching. Plus, there really didn’t seem to be any alcohol available, at least not down with them. Nazuna grabbed the phone from Nina and started scrolling through the options with a critical eye. “Ah! Here’s one we could start with! Truth or dare!”

Nina perked up as Nazuna explained the game. Michiru wasn’t really one for party games, but she enjoyed playing them well enough. She enjoyed doing anything if it meant she could hang out with Nazuna more often. Nina dragged them to a space on the floor and they all listened to Nazuna on how to start the game.

“Well, we could always start with the youngest ask and the oldest answer, buuuuuuuuuuuut that version isn’t as fun using a bottle to choose,” Nazuna explained, tapping the side of her face in a way that made her look cute and clever.

“A bottle?”

“Yeah! You spin the bottle and whoever it points to has to choose truth or dare! Then you spin it again to choose who’ll ask the question!” The rest of the party was in agreement that sounded much more fun. There weren’t any bottles down with them, so Nazuna flew up to the balcony and asked for an empty bottle from the Family watching. Nina and Michiru watched apprehensively, worried for Nazuna’s brashness. But Shirou offered her an empty bottle, which she took happily. Once she was back down, she plopped down on the floor, back in her human form. “Alright! Are you guys ready?”

They played a few rounds and Michiru got into the game more than she expected to. She had done a couple dares, including giving Nina a kiss on the cheek and accepting another kiss from Angela. The bottle landed on her again, with Nazuna asking the question.

“So, Michiru. Truth or dare?” she asked with a playful glint in her eyes.

“Eh, why not truth this time?” She matched Nazuna’s expression with a challenging one of her own. “Give me your best shot.”

“You asked for it! So, Michiru, do you _like_ Shirou?”

Michiru pulled back, surprise written across her face. Without her fur to hide it, a faint blush started to creep across her skin. “What, what do you mean by that?”

Nazuna leaned in and the others followed suit. Obviously, this was a truth that was burning to be released.

“You know _exactly_ what I mean, Michiru.”

* * *

Shirou glanced down at the party, the liquor in his system affecting him more than he expected. But Michiru’s huddled stance brought his attention to full hyperfocus. The others were leaning in towards her, waiting for something from her. Michiru’s body language set him off, tense and coiled to strike.

“Ogami,” Flip warned.

Shirou turned and realized he had morphed in the Family’s presence. He breathed out and calmed down, turning back into his human form. “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll be back.”

* * *

“Well?” Nazuna asked, waiting as patiently as she could.

“Yeah, Michiru. You picked truth, so you have to answer truthfully. Right?” Nina looked at Nazuna for confirmation. She nodded and leaned in again.

“Come on, Michiru. Do you like him or not?”

Michiru hunched further into her arms. She didn’t want to be asked that question. Not here, not like this. She didn’t even _know_ if she did. He had certainly grown on her and as she helped him, he gradually learned to trust her too. And when he thought he had killed her when he went on his rampage… She still felt her chest clench at that memory. It felt the same as when she saw Yaba’s horn go straight through him. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to speak the truth as much as she could.

“… maybe?”

Nazuna jumped to her feet with a squeal and the others followed her actions, even though they didn’t fully understand the reasoning behind. Michiru took this chance to excuse herself to the bathroom. She hurried away. When the bathroom door closed, she pressed her back up to it and.

Just.

She slid down to the floor, tears threatening to spill. As much as she loved Nazuna, there were times where she was too much for her to handle. Like now, Nazuna’s delight at her embarrassment left her feeling too much. She could barely handle all the emotions filling her up. She didn’t have to deal with this much as a human. That must have been what Shirou meant by beastmen being more emotional than humans. The thought of Shirou settled her somewhat and she found she suddenly missed him terribly. She regretted coming to the party, like she had the last party she went to with Nina. But this time, it was for different reasons. But she couldn’t hide in the bathroom forever. She wiped at her eyes, willing the tears back, and got back to her feet. She opened the door and nearly walked right into Shirou.

Michiru startled back, the blush back on her cheeks. His eyes opened and he gazed at her. Had… had he been tracking her scent? The tension began to leak out of her at the sight of him. He looked her up and down and she wondered suddenly if he had been watching her while the others questioned her.

Shirou tapped her arm, getting her attention silently. He glanced behind him, checking for anyone watching, then morphed. He gestured that it was okay and Michiru dived into his neck fluff. The second she buried her face into him and his scent, all the tension finally bled out of her. His arms came up around her and he squeezed her tightly. They stood like that for a few minutes until she felt better.

“Thank you, Shirou,” Michiru said as she stepped back.

“Do you want to go home?” Shirou asked, readjusting his clothes.

“Not really. Nina’s having so much fun and so is Nazuna.”

“Are you though?”

“What?”

“Are you having fun?” Shirou asked, his face turning serious again. Michiru’s expression fell and she looked away from him. He waited for an answer. When it looked like she wasn’t going to give him one, he ran his fingers through his hair and tried not to come across as exasperated. He wasn’t, but he worried Michiru might think him to be if he wasn’t mindful of his tone. “I won’t force you, Michiru, if you want to stay. But I don’t want you to be unhappy either. I am sure Nazuna will understand if you want to leave early. She…” His eyes closed and he felt something twist sharp in his chest at his next words. “She trusts you. You can trust her to understand your feelings.”

It sounded like a confession, a concession, and he couldn’t figure out why. No, he didn’t want to figure it out right then. He had put off worse feelings for centuries. Putting off another one for a few hours was nothing.

At least, it should be nothing.

That seemed to spark understanding in Michiru, at least. She looked up at him, determination in her eyes and nodded. She reached out to take his hand in hers and smiled warmly.

“Thank you, Shirou. For being here.”

He didn’t tell her that Flip had ordered him to come, for his daughter’s safety. He followed her as she went back to the party and nodded up at the Family. Nazuna was sad when Michiru suggested they leave, but when she saw Michiru’s expression, her protests seemed to die in her throat. She agreed and promised Nina that they would hang out together again and thanked her for the invite. The Family offered them a ride home, one that Shirou was thankful for. It was late and he was sure they didn’t want to walk all the way back to Beast Co-op.

Once they were back home, Shirou waited for the inevitable plea for Nazuna to stay. But it never came. He glanced at Michiru and only realized now how drained she was. She didn’t try to get Nazuna to stay, even though he had been sure she’d want company based on how upset she had been earlier that night. But Michiru turned and waved goodnight to them, leaving Nazuna and Shirou on the street.

When Michiru was gone, Shirou turned to wish Nazuna a good night, but the words caught on his tongue at her sly expression.

“Can I ask you something, Shirou?” she asked, leaning forward with a foxish grin. His expression went blank and he leaned up against the building wall.

“What?”

“Do you like Michiru?”

His expression remained blank, but he could feel the urge to morph tickle at his skin. “Do I like Michiru?” he repeated and she nodded. He shrugged and pressed the back of his head to the cool stone. “Of course. She’s reliable and trustworthy and she’s saved my ass several times over. Why are you asking? You’d have to be-“

“That’s not what I mean, Shirou.”

His head snapped back to her, morphing before he could stop himself, and his eyes narrowed. Nazuna giggled and waved off his reaction dismissively. With a flurry of fur, she turned on her heel and headed back inside without another word.


End file.
